Some kids wanted to be firemen when they grew up, some wanted to be astronauts, some wanted to be ninjas, but I wanted to coach high school basketball. This is a blog about coaching basketball and basketball in general. I have a deep passion for basketball and am going to use this blog to share that passion with others as well as expand my own knowledge and ideas. I might post Xs and Os, drills, coaching ideas, or just random thoughts on basketball. Enjoy!

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Outside the Box Ideas

It's been awhile since I posted last, just had one of those stretches. Saw a good clinic by Kevin Eastman up in Thief River Falls (MN) and been doing a lot of reading. Currently trying desperately to finish Tony Dungy's book "The Mentor Leader" which I got from Christmas last year from Coach Leisener. It's a great book, almost done, but just been slow to finish it.

I was watching some old tape of my year at South Tama County with my buddy Amis MacKenzie who's the JV coach at Little Fork High School. Reflecting back on the season (as painful as it still is), I did think about some of the outside the box ideas we used that year. They didn't result in a whole lot of wins obviously, but they were interesting none the less. Below I'll give you my two best outside the box ideas from my wild year with the STC Trojans.

Stick and Three
Got this idea from a junior college coach in Iowa. He would go man to man on the three best players on the team and leave the other two players on the blocks or high low to clog the lane.

We used this defense when we played Norwalk, who was ranked #1 in the state at the time. We ended up losing by 20+, but were down 6 in the fourth quarter if my memory serves me correctly. They had a super point guard and two big studs (6-5 kid and a 6-8 D1 kid) inside. So we denied the point all over and played man to man on the bigs fronting them wherever they went. The other two guys played in the lane and took away the drive for the point guard and the lobs to the post. Eventually we ended up taking the second person on the stick and doubling the point when he touched the ball and recovering to the lane after the pass. The other players on the team were so shocked to be open that they didn't hurt us for most of the game.

Not Jumping for the Jump Ball
We were very undersized and there were not a lot of jump balls we were going to win. So what we started doing was having our PG jump and instead of actually jumping for the ball he would try to read the tip and run out to grab it. If he didn't get it, we would trap the player who did get it. We played a defensive jump and forced them to tip it behind. Twice our point actually stole the ball and we got a layup out of the deal. Not a game changer, but something different and interesting to try and steal momentum.

Overall, I think when you are struggling you have to try some things that are a little outside the box to gain any advantage that you can. They might not always make a difference between wins and losses, but all it takes is that one close game for them to make the difference.

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About Me

I am a thirty year old who loves working with young people and basketball. It's my passion and what I've wanted to do since childhood.

This upcoming season will be my 11th year and I will be the sophomore coach at Tartan High School (Oakdale, MN).

I've learned a lot in my ten years, but the biggest thing I've learned is that I know enough to know that I don't know anything. I am constantly trying to better myself as a coach and gain more knowledge about coaching and the game. I'm hoping to learn from others in this blogging experience. With that in mind I would greatly appreciate any comments on what I post on the blog, I'm always looking to learn and that's part of why I put my ideas on here.